Top Words of ’08: Change beats Bailout and ObamaMania

Change beats Bailout and Obamamaniaas top word of 2008

Financial Tsunamiis Top Phrase,BarackObamais Top Name

Austin, TX December 1, 2008 – Change is the Top Word, Financial Tsunami is Top Phrase, and Barack Obama is Top Name atop the Global Language Monitor’s (www.Languagemonitor.com) annual global survey of the English language.

The estimated number of words in the English language stands at 998,751, just 1,249 from the million-word mark.

“Global English has been driven by three notable events during the course of 2008: The US Presidential Election, the Financial Tsunami, and the Beijing Olympics.” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor. For 2008 our words were culled from throughout the English-speaking world which now numbers some 1.58 billion speakers and includes such diverse cultures as India, China, Philippines, and the EuroZone.

The analysis was completed using GLM’s Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), the proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet. The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-term changes, momentum and velocity.

The top words for 2007 were all ‘green’ oriented: Hybrid was the Top Word, the Top Phrase was Climate Change, and the Top Name was Al Gore.(who won the Nobel Prize) for his efforts onGlobal Warmingthrough ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.In an odd twist of history, Gore also won an academy award for the film.

The Top Word for 2006 were ‘sustainable,’ the Top Phrase was ‘Stay the Course’ (President Bushrepeatedly describing his Iraq Strategy), and the Top Name was Dafur.

The Top Ten Words of 2008

Change – The top political buzzword of the 2008 US Presidential campaign.

Bailout – Would have been higher but was not in the media until Mid-September.

Obamamania – Describing the worldwide reaction to Barack Obama’s campaign and subsequent victory in the US presidential race.

Greenwashing – Repositioning a product to stress its Earth-friendly attributes.

Surge – Military and political strategy often cited as reducing violence in Iraq.